Chapter 21
Chapter 21
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 21
Chapter Title: The Crazy Bitch Devotee and the Crazy Bitch
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Thump.
Thump thump.
Who could it be?
The person known as the strongest Awakener.
I'm no expert on Awakeners, by any means.
But a few famous names worthy of the title 'strongest' do come to mind.
Is it that Seo Jaewoo, who can crush a railway car with his grip strength alone?
...No, he's a guy.
Lee Hyejeong, who moves at speeds invisible to the naked eye?
Or maybe Oh Ye-eun?
Kim Soo-ji?
Who is it?
Soon enough.
Someone opened the door to the room where I was waiting.
"..."
"..."
Our eyes met.
About three seconds passed.
Then she spoke to me in the rudest tone imaginable.
"No greeting?"
"Ah... Hello. I'm Lee Jia."
"Yeah, sure. Let's go."
"...Right now?"
"What, you wanna grab a bowl of jjajangmyeon first?"
"N-No, I'm coming."
With that, she turned her back to me coldly.
I hurried after her with quick little steps, afraid I'd lose sight of her.
Oh.
This is bad.
I need to start building favor with her right now.
...But I have no idea who she is.
This is unavoidable.
It's an act of God.
It's common courtesy not to use my wiki-writing ability on people as much as possible.
But to save my own skin, I need to build favor in advance starting now.
Soon, I checked her information in wiki form.
📖 Omnia Wiki [Yoo Euisul (Awakener)]
1. Overview 2. Details 3. Characteristics 4. Abilities 5. Controversies and Incidents 5-1. Controversy over Cursing at Fellow Awakeners
5-2. Controversy over Bullying Fellow Awakeners
5-3. Interview Controversy
5-4. Controversy over Rude Remarks During Live Broadcast
...
...
...
5-12. Controversy over Frequent Tardiness and Attitude Toward Anomalous Phenomena Resolution
6. Trivia "Whoa, fuck."
The moment I checked her wiki, a curse slipped out loud.
Ah.
So that's why no one told me who she was beforehand.
It's packed with nothing but shit you'd regret knowing.
Yoo Euisul.
I've heard the name.
She's the Awakener infamous for her utterly rotten personality.
The second a curse came out of my mouth.
She whipped around and said to me,
"Swearing right off the bat with a stranger?"
"N-No, it's... um, you know... j-just mumbling to myself. Mumbling..."
"Favorability, huh."
"...Pardon?"
Anyway.
She seems like a total nutcase.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Awakener Yoo Euisul.
She's publicly recognized by all as the strongest Awakener.
What does 'strongest' even mean?
Can you become the strongest just by having raw power and destructive force?
No.
The strength of an Awakener isn't measured that way.
Before understanding an Awakener's strength, you first need to grasp just how dangerous Anomalous Phenomena are.
The scariest thing about Anomalous Phenomena?
The uncertainty of information.
Some make you go insane just by looking at them.
Others attack anyone who enters within a thousand meters.
That's why Lee Jia fears Anomalous Phenomena.
Even with her ability to check information, she has to risk danger and get close to them.
Pretty ironic.
She couldn't generate wiki entries for Anomalous Phenomena or items from photos alone.
She could for other objects, so why not those?
She doesn't know.
Maybe it's a wiki-writing condition, she guesses cautiously.
Like that, Anomalous Phenomena can't be solved just by brute strength.
Awakener Yoo Euisul.
The reason she's called the strongest?
Her ability.
She's completely immune to all mental attacks.
Anomalous Phenomena that dominate thoughts? Useless on her.
Ones that instill fear? Same deal.
Even Kim Junghwan's truth-detection ability counts as a mental attack.
It doesn't work on her.
Kim Junghwan can't tell if Yoo Euisul is lying.
She's tougher than a regular person like any Awakener, but no other abilities.
How does she become the strongest with just that?
Her item-handling skills are leagues above everyone else's.
No need to worry about mental attacks since she's immune anyway.
Her lacking physical power? Covered by her item—a sword she calls Excalibur.
...Whether it's the real deal or not, who knows. She calls it that.
Unlike other Awakeners who must guard against both mental and physical attacks.
She can focus solely on physical ones.
Naturally, she tops the charts in Anomalous Phenomena resolutions.
With such overwhelming ability and achievements, she should be hailed as humanity's hero.
So why do people call her the 'rude Awakener'?
Simple.
She's genuinely rude as hell.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ From checking her wiki, she had an ability granting immunity to mental attacks.
She said she'd check first if this Anomalous Phenomenon used mental attacks.
About an hour passed.
She returned from inside the Anomalous Phenomenon zone.
"Let's go."
Hmm.
Looks like no problem.
I'd spent the hour reading her wiki intently, so waiting wasn't boring.
One word sums up impressions of the Yoo Euisul entry.
She's a rude nutcase.
Yoo Euisul was three years older than me.
All her controversies and incidents stemmed from her shitty personality.
She seems like an extreme individualist...
No way she'd like dragging a burden like me into an Anomalous Phenomenon zone.
Ahh, Reflecting Myriad Stars.
If you're truly a conscientious god.
Protect me from this Anomalous Phenomenon and this psycho.
"Hey."
"Even as the Archivist of the Omnia Archive, leaving me to die like this would prick Reflecting Myriad Stars' conscience too..."
"Hey."
"Y-Yes?"
"What're you doing?"
"...Praying."
It was a dumb answer, but true.
She smirked at my reply.
Then continued.
"Name's Lee Jia, right?"
"Yes..."
"I like it. I'm Yoo Euisul. Call me unnie casually."
"Ah, yes. Yoo Euisul-ssi."
"Pfft. You get called crazy a lot, huh?"
"Yes."
My nickname's Fervent Devotee, after all.
I hear 'crazy' thousands of times a day.
"Favorability, huh."
"..."
No clue why.
But favor-building seems successful.
Maybe she sees me as her kind.
No.
I'm not a genuine psycho like you.
I'm just a crazy-person complainant forced into fanaticism.
...
...
...
Apparently a 30-minute walk to the Anomalous Phenomenon.
The sight of my first Anomalous Phenomenon zone in person?
Gave me chills down to my bones.
All surrounding buildings collapsed.
Not even a bug chirping.
Felt like walking a post-apocalyptic world.
The one silver lining?
Yoo Euisul, now interested in me, kept firing questions, leaving no room for fear to creep in.
"So, what's this Reflecting Myriad Stars?"
"The god I believe in."
"Ah... Like some cult?"
"How dare—! Blasphemy!!"
"Pfft."
"...Ah, sorry. No, not sorry. That's blasphemy."
"You're one weird kid. Fine, I'll search it up later."
"P-Please don't..."
"Who're you to tell me?"
"...Do it, sure. Um, aren't we almost there?"
"Ten more minutes. I got more questions."
"..."
"You natural?"
"Ah, your hair? Yeah, no dye."
"No, not hair. Boobs."
"Ah."
"Natural?"
"P-Probably...?"
"'Probably'? Did you get surgery or not?"
"No."
Grateful for the chatter.
But all questions were awkward as hell, making me wish we'd face the Phenomenon quick and head home.
Wow.
Never thought I'd miss streaming.
I miss you, my devoted viewers.
She paused her question barrage.
Soon.
She spoke with a serious expression.
"I heard everything from the old man about your ability and situation."
"Old man...?"
"Scheduled Hwan."
"Ah."
"You can check info on items and Anomalous Phenomena, right?"
"Yes... Probably."
"Then."
Shing.
She drew her sword.
"Can you check this famed blade of mine, Excalibur?"
"Sure. But sorry to nitpick."
"Yeah?"
"That's not Excalibur."
My words hit her like a bombshell.
"...Not Excalibur?"
"No."
"Th-Then what is it?"
"Lemme see... Name's... 'Iron Sword No. 3'. Yeah."
"...For real?"
"Yes."
"Not No. 1 or 2, but 3?"
"Yes."
"Fuck."
A curse burst from her mouth.
Uh.
D-Did I say something wrong?
But I can't lie.
It's not Excalibur.
Iron Sword No. 3.